Apparently, this is a major victory of the patent system. This, this right here, this is what the patent system has come to. This is the destructive effect it's having on this once beautiful industry. Thanks to trolls like Apple and Microsoft, basic, elemental functionality is being removed from devices people already own.

And yet there are many not encumbered by patents royalty-free codecs, comparable or better than "closed" ones. Also released by largish entities (like SILK, forming part of basis for Opus codec), which somehow don't starve, make more than "zero dollars".

It's just that the codecs on which patent-holders chose to standardise are patent encumbered (duh, who would've thought they'll choose their own codecs, to exploit the system which they distort).

Sure, most software devs don't have to deal with patents - but that's not the point of concern. The issue is that patents are a quite effective stick when cartels decide to subdue some small player, from time to time.

Anyway, your opening premise doesn't follow any logic - you cannot know if the present state of the industry is most optimal (judging from history, or overall knowledge about human societies - it almost certainly isn't)